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Ebony Jackson (30) found dead in the trunk of her car

A 30-year-old woman suspected of abandoning her infant son last week in an apartment building in St. Louis was found dead in the trunk of her car, prompting the police chief in a nearby town to stand on a street corner soliciting reward money for the hunt for her killer.

Ebony Jackson's 2004 Mitsubishi Galant was found around 10 a.m. Tuesday in Breckenridge Hills, about 16 miles away from St. Louis. Her car, found on the 4400 block of Elmbank Avenue, was located via GPS, and the vehicle was towed to a secure location so police could begin a thorough search.

Jackson's 3-month-old baby was discovered in the hallway of the Hickory Trace Apartment building on Friday, Jan. 4, nearly 12 miles away from where her car was found. The child was in a car seat and was in good health, police said.

Meanwhile, the police chief of Pine Lawn, about nine miles from St. Louis, began collecting money to put toward a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Jackson?s killer.

Police Chief Rickey Collins said neither he nor his department have any connection with Jackson, only that her death ?rocked? the community. So he stood on a street corner beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday, with the goal of collecting $5,000 by 3 p.m.

?It was an unbelievable murder that really touched a lot of hearts of the people here in St. Louis because it went from child abandonment to homicide,? Collins told NBC News. ?I know Missouri is a very generous state and collecting rewards has always brought witnesses and evidence forward, so I hope to get information to bring the person forward and solve the case.?

A man from Oklahoma claiming to be the father of the baby said Jackson left with their son and headed to Missouri. That man came to St. Louis earlier this week to take a paternity test, the results of which are still pending, NBC affiliate station KSDK in St. Louis reported.

With less than an hour left of standing outside, Collins, who is on vacation until Jan. 22, said he thought he would get close to reaching his goal.

?You would think that everyone knows this woman,? Collins said. ?People have been very generous, they are participating, giving thumbs up as they pass by and are very supportive of what we?re doing and why we?re doing it.?

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department did not identify a cause of death for Jackson. An autopsy will be performed, police said.

ST. LOUIS • The man charged with killing Ebony Jackson, whose body was found in the trunk of her car days after her infant son was discovered abandoned but unharmed, confessed to a friend who helped him scrub the crime scene, according to a newly released affidavit filed in court.

Dyanthany Y. Proudie, 40, is accused of shooting Jackson once near the left ear on Jan. 2, as she prepared to take a bath at his apartment in the 4100 block of Ashland Avenue.

A friend of his told police that afterward, he pulled up bathroom tiles and used bleach to clean up blood while Proudie used a circular saw to remove wooden floorboards, police said in a statement placed in the court record.

Proudie allegedly told the friend that he shot Jackson, a former girlfriend, “over personal matters.” The Post-Dispatch is not naming the friend, nor identifying two other alleged witnesses to the clean-up, because they have not been charged.

Brad Kessler, the lawyer representing Proudie, said Friday that his client had nothing to do with Jackson’s killing or a clean-up. Kessler suggested that the friend cited in the affidavit was the last person seen with Jackson and may be the killer.

“I would suggest everyone should be looking for him,” Kessler said. “When my client left Ebony Jackson in the company of (the friend), she was alive and well.”

Authorities who filed charges against Proudie on Feb. 27 said witnesses played a crucial role in cracking the case but did not elaborate or pinpoint the time of Jackson’s death.

The records in St. Louis Circuit Court shed light on both.

The friend told police he helped Jackson with her luggage earlier that evening when she arrived at the building Proudie owns. Jackson, 30, who has family ties here, and her infant son were visiting from her home in Moore, Okla. The man said the two left for dinner while he stayed behind with two other individuals, then he left too.

The friend said he returned about 11 p.m. and Proudie was there with the two others from earlier. There also was a baby in a car seat but no Jackson. The friend said he saw a large pool of blood in the bathroom, and assumed it was hers. Then, he said, Proudie asked him to help clean it up.

After they did so, according to court records, the telltale flooring was taken to the rear of Proudie’s building and burned. Jackson’s belongings allegedly were placed in Proudie’s pickup truck and dumped at some unknown location. The records do not specify who disposed of the items.

Police became involved Jan. 4, after someone found the baby — with no clue to his identity — in a car seat in the hallway of an apartment building at 3567 Dehart Place in Breckenridge Hills. It is now known to be the complex where Proudie’s estranged wife lives.

Family identified the child from a picture in news reports. They said Jackson had planned to introduce 3-month-old Donavon Prom to relatives in East St. Louis, but nobody had seen her.

On Jan. 8, Breckenridge Hills police found Jackson’s car by using a GPS tracker that came with the vehicle. It was in the 4400 block of Elmbank Avenue, just blocks from Proudie’s home. Jackson’s body was in the trunk.

A search of cellphone records by detectives revealed phone calls between Jackson and Proudie.

Police served a search warrant at Proudie’s apartment on Feb. 20, after interviewing the friend. They arrested Proudie Feb. 25. Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce’s office refused charges, asking for more information. He was re-arrested Feb. 26 and charged the next day with first-degree murder and armed criminal action.

Police referred all questions about the witnesses to prosecutors, who said no charges had been sought against them, and otherwise declined comment.

Proudie has a history of criminal charges in St. Louis and St. Louis County, and was ordered by a judge to stay away from his estranged wife and their two children after she complained that he tried to take them and showed up at her work.

She claimed in court documents that he had physically assaulted her, set her car on fire and threatened serious harm, saying she had ruined another relationship of his.

Though the claims were outlined in protective orders the woman applied for in 2008 and 2011, she denied to a reporter that she made them.